Jhoan Duran's Entrance Traded to Phillies for 'Greater Good of' Fans, Says Twins Exec

The Minnesota Twins didn't just trade closer Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies.

They also traded his electrifying entrance.

It was natural to wonder if Duran would bring his entrance—which includes the Undertaker's bell, the ballpark lights going out and a tarantula crawling across the screens—to Philadelphia, and Twins vice president of communications Dustin Morse explained he reached out to the relief pitcher to ask if he wanted to take it with him.

"We collectively thought, 'this is for the greater good of baseball fans,'" he said, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic in an article published Sunday. "This is a fun atmosphere. All baseball fans should get to see it and experience it. We all know that the atmosphere at Citizens Bank is already nuts. This would go over well."

The decision to move the celebration from Minnesota to Philadelphia came with something of a time crunch, as Gelb explained game-presentation officials from both sides connected with just 36 hours to spare for the Phillies to recreate the entrance.

"It's the right thing to do," Morse said. "We did the right thing here."

It paid off Friday when Duran entered in the ninth inning of Philadelphia's home game against the Detroit Tigers and notched the save with a mere four pitches. It seemed like the entrance nearly took as long as the save.

Morse said he texted Duran in the aftermath that the "entrance looked amazing," which drew a response from the closer that said, "thank you so much, Dustin. Thank you for being a part of that creation."

Philadelphia bolstered its bullpen by trading for the fireballer and sending Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait to the Twins. Both Abel and Tait are considered top 100 prospects on MLB.com, underscoring Minnesota's overall rebuilding strategy ahead of Thursday's trade deadline.

The American League Central team traded 10 active major-league players and 11 players from the 40-man roster in a collection of head-turning moves. 

"I mean, no one expected them to do this," a current general manager told USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "They had everyone going everywhere. The trade deadline wouldn't have been nearly this active without the Twins doing what they did."

Perhaps the biggest move was trading Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros, where he previously won a World Series, but the Duran move was also an impactful one.

After all, the Phillies needed to improve their bullpen ahead of the stretch run, and they did so by adding a dominant closer who has a 1.97 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 17 saves and 53 strikeouts in 50.1 innings across 50 appearances.

They are just a half-game behind the New York Mets in the National League East and should feel confident going into the ninth inning with a lead the rest of the season.

And the fans can also feel confident they will get to soak in Duran's memorable entrance for the rest of the year thanks in part to efforts from the Twins.